Current Issue
January/February/March 2021
This issue's feature article:
Brave new Church?
There are reasons to be hopeful as a new year dawns. Like London buses, a series of vaccines have suddenly appeared ready for deployment against the curse of a global pandemic that has paralysed our liturgical and pastoral practice alike. Desultory funerals and minimalistic wedding feasts may soon be a thing of the past as restrictions are lifted and the faithful are allowed to express their sorrows and joys.
Anthony Towey
Read More
Dec
28
2020
Brave new Church?
Anthony Towey There are reasons to be hopeful as a new year dawns. Like London buses, a series of vaccines have suddenly appeared ready for ...
Whither global governance?
The finer points of recent papal documents which feature Catholic Social Teaching on international governance are often lost in translation, writes ...
Fratelli tutti on war: What next for Catholic social teaching?
Pope Francis’ new encyclical very nearly rejects Just War reasoning, writes Theodora Hawksley, who leads the social and environmental justice ...
Fratelli tutti and popular politics
In Fratelli tutti, Pope Francis explores what contribution the Catholic tradition can make in politics, writes Amy Daughton, Lecturer in Practical ...
Pilgrim Companions: Assimilating the IICSA Reports
In autumn 2020, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its investigation reports into the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches. ...
Called to be saints: Greetings to the church of God in Muirhouse
Josephine Smith, a lay pastoral worker, reflects on how one urban parish have put synodality, catechesis and mission at the top of their agenda for ...
Should the Universal Church support a universal basic income?
Philip Booth, Professor of Finance, Public Policy and Ethics at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, looks at the arguments for providing universal ...
How shall we hum the Lord’s song in an alien land?
Covid-19 poses a threat for full and active participation in the liturgy – or is it an opportunity to reappraise our understanding of the ...
Covid and Exodus – a journey home
The author uses the biblical Exodus as a key to unlock the potential for theological reflections about the implications of Covid-19. M. C. Benitan ...
The priestly ordination of Charles de Foucauld
The priest, hermit and martyr Blessed Charles de Foucauld has been cleared for canonisation by Pope Francis. Patrick H. Daly, a priest of the ...
Women writers’ images of the priest in two pre- Emancipation novels
Jeremy Rowe, an expert in Catholic literature, explores how two women novelists writing prior to Catholic Emancipation imagine how priests, educated ...
Where have all the children gone?
Sue Price, Acting Principal of the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology in Cambridge, reflects on the witness children receive – and give – by ...
The challenges of childhood bullying: A pastoral approach
Daniel Kearney is a former teacher of Theology & Religious Studies and author of Childhood Bullying and Adult Bullying (Redemptorist ...
Sundays and Prayers of the Faithful in January, February, March 2021
Year B
Sunday 3 January
Second Sunday after Christmas
Ecclesiasticus 24.1–2,8–12
Psalm 147
Ephesians 1.3–6,15–18
John 1.1–18 OR John 1.1–5,9–14
Brave new Church?Anthony Towey There are reasons to be hopeful as a new year dawns. Like London buses, a series of vaccines have suddenly appeared ready for ...
Whither global governance?The finer points of recent papal documents which feature Catholic Social Teaching on international governance are often lost in translation, writes ...
Fratelli tutti on war: What next for Catholic social teaching?Pope Francis’ new encyclical very nearly rejects Just War reasoning, writes Theodora Hawksley, who leads the social and environmental justice ...
Fratelli tutti and popular politicsIn Fratelli tutti, Pope Francis explores what contribution the Catholic tradition can make in politics, writes Amy Daughton, Lecturer in Practical ...
Pilgrim Companions: Assimilating the IICSA ReportsIn autumn 2020, the Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse published its investigation reports into the Roman Catholic and Anglican Churches. ...
Called to be saints: Greetings to the church of God in MuirhouseJosephine Smith, a lay pastoral worker, reflects on how one urban parish have put synodality, catechesis and mission at the top of their agenda for ...
Should the Universal Church support a universal basic income?Philip Booth, Professor of Finance, Public Policy and Ethics at St Mary’s University, Twickenham, looks at the arguments for providing universal ...
How shall we hum the Lord’s song in an alien land?Covid-19 poses a threat for full and active participation in the liturgy – or is it an opportunity to reappraise our understanding of the ...
Covid and Exodus – a journey homeThe author uses the biblical Exodus as a key to unlock the potential for theological reflections about the implications of Covid-19. M. C. Benitan ...
The priestly ordination of Charles de FoucauldThe priest, hermit and martyr Blessed Charles de Foucauld has been cleared for canonisation by Pope Francis. Patrick H. Daly, a priest of the ...
Women writers’ images of the priest in two pre- Emancipation novelsJeremy Rowe, an expert in Catholic literature, explores how two women novelists writing prior to Catholic Emancipation imagine how priests, educated ...
Where have all the children gone?Sue Price, Acting Principal of the Margaret Beaufort Institute of Theology in Cambridge, reflects on the witness children receive – and give – by ...
The challenges of childhood bullying: A pastoral approachDaniel Kearney is a former teacher of Theology & Religious Studies and author of Childhood Bullying and Adult Bullying (Redemptorist ...
Weekdays in January, February and March 2021
These reflections on the weekday Bible readings are by Canon Mervyn Tower, parish priest of Corpus Christi, Headington, Oxford.
Friday 1 January
Mary, Mother of God (solemnity)
Numbers 6.22–27
Psalm 66
Galatians 4.4–7
Luke 2.16–21
Pope St Paul VI declared 1 January to be the World Day of Peace, so it is fitting that the blessing of Aaron is proclaimed. The Book of Numbers is known in Hebrew by its opening as Bemidbar (In the desert). Until Numbers 9.32, the scene is placed at Sinai ...
These reflections on the weekday Bible readings are by Canon Mervyn Tower, parish priest of Corpus Christi, Headington, Oxford.
Friday 1 January
Mary, Mother of God (solemnity)
Numbers 6.22–27
Psalm 66
Galatians 4.4–7
Luke 2.16–21
Pope St Paul VI declared 1 January to be the World Day of Peace, so it is fitting that the blessing of Aaron is proclaimed. The Book of Numbers is known in Hebrew by its opening as Bemidbar (In the desert). Until Numbers 9.32, the scene is placed at Sinai ...
Sundays and Prayers of the Faithful in January, February, March 2021
The Church in England and Wales has invited us to engage with the word of God this year in its initiative The God who Speaks.
Sunday 3 January
Second Sunday after Christmas
Ecclesiasticus 24.1–2,8–12
Psalm 147
Ephesians 1.3–6,15–18
John 1.1–18 OR John 1.1–5,9–14
The Lectionary gives us a Gospel from John on this Sunday after Christmas for a very specific reason. The General Introduction to the Lectionary puts it thus: ‘On the second Sunday after Christmas, the readings are about the mystery of the Incarnation ...
Text Size
Michael A. Hayes 1957 - 2017
Michael A. Hayes 1957 - 2017
It is with deep sadness that we announce the death of Rev. Professor Michael Hayes editor of the Pastoral Review.
Many friends and readers of the Pastoral Review and The Tablet will have been shocked and deeply saddened to hear of the passing of Michael Hayes early on Easter Saturday. Read More